The present invention relates to automatic dispensers for cupped drinks, such as coffee, milk, chocolate, tea, syrups, soup and other drinks.
Cupped drink dispensers have been known for some time, comprising a plurality of delivery stations containing constituent substances of the drink and from which a substance is emitted in the fluid state (liquid or powder), and a cup delivery station. This latter station allows empty cups to fall (one at a time) into a user release location, from which the cup can be taken by the user after the constituent substances of the drink (for example a coffee infusion together with sugar and a little milk) have been fed into the cup lying in this location. The entire procedure is controlled by an automatic control unit which automatically controls the succession of operations involved in emitting the substances and cups.
The delivery stations are connected to the drink release location by various relatively lengthy pipes extending from the top downwards, which start from the exit points and all converge at the release location for the drink contained in the cup. Said pipes convey the substance leaving the exit point to the drink release location by gravity.
A drawback of said machines is the difficulty of periodically cleaning, as required by proper hygiene, all those machine parts which come into contact with the constituent substances of the drink, in particular the lengthy pipes which convey the substances to the cup positioned in the drink release location.
Another drawback is that droplets of other substances can undesirably fall into the drink in the release location from pipes relative to these other substances, and spoil the taste of the substance actually requested.
A further drawback is that certain substances, such as chocolate powder, or solid objects, cannot be lowered through said pipes.
A still further drawback is that the number of substance conveying pipes is limited by the fact that all these pipes must have their final opening lying within the upper circumference of the cup, the number of possible delivery stations consequently being limited.